


Is Thirty Too Much?

by Mid_Nightmare



Series: Starker Week 2018 [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Implied Relationships, M/M, Precious Peter Parker, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Starker Week, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 14:25:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15245322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mid_Nightmare/pseuds/Mid_Nightmare
Summary: Tony Stark never had any sign of a soulmate until a random day in the middle of April at the ripe age of thirty. His soulmate couldn't possibly be thirty years younger than him, could he?Prompt Two of Starker Week 2018!!





	Is Thirty Too Much?

**Author's Note:**

> Part Two of Starker Week!  
> I like this one, but I also don't???? I was working another version of this prompty, but I was quickly becoming insecure with both. I hope this is okay though, and that you guys don't mind it. Much love!

It was customary that once a person turned sixteen years old, their soulmate’s name would appear somewhere on their body written in the other person’s handwriting. The only thing was that for the name to appear, one’s partner had to be born.

Tony had absolutely no idea how the hell it worked, but he knew that the universe didn’t seem to like him much. When he woke up on his sixteenth birthday, there was no name on his skin even though he checked everywhere. As the years past and things began to blur because of all the alcohol and parties, there was one constant. No name. At eighteen, no name. At twenty-one, he didn’t have a name. At twenty-five, still no name. Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, even twenty nine. He was beginning to think it was hopeless; he didn’t have a soulmate. And then on no particularly special day at about four in the afternoon, Tony Stark happened to glance down and see in a surprisingly neat handwriting the name “Peter Benjamin Parker” across his left inner wrist.

He blinked at first before wiping at the name with his right thumb. He thought it was just a joke that one of his party guests had played on him, and he just happened to have been too busy nursing a hangover and fiddling in his workshop to notice. But the name would not go away nor would it even smudge. If his skin was stretched, it would stretch as well. It was almost like a tattoo. And then it struck him.

Tony Stark officially had a soulmate. This boy, this… Paul? He cast a quick glance at his wrist, whoops, Peter. Kid’s name was Peter. This Peter Benjamin Parker was his soulmate. Now, he wasn’t bothered by the fact that based solely on the name alone, his soulmate was male. No, he’d taken his fair share of men and women in his thirty years, but that was what stood out. If he hadn’t gotten the name until now, did that mean his soulmate was just born? Was his soulmate really  _ thirty _ years younger than him?

There was a slight churn to his stomach at that idea, but he brushed it off as his hangover pounded in his temple. “I need a drink,” he groaned and got up, leaving his half-finished project for another time. He decided about three drinks in that it didn’t matter who his soulmate was. He most likely was never going to meet them, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t really want to settle down. He had enough people trying to just sleep with him for money, he didn’t need anyone trying to claim him as a soulmate just to get a slice of his cash.

And with another glass of whiskey down, Tony Stark decided to forget all about the name now imprinted in his wrist and continue his life as always.

 

Years had past, and Tony was now nearing his mid-forties and was part of the Avengers when his brain had offhandedly reminded him of his soulmate. Cap and him were fighting because Steve’s soulmate, who was thought to be dead, suddenly was back, and no one had truly ever seen the man so invested in anything as he was to reclaiming his old lover. Tony had simply sighed and shook his head, glad he never had to worry about that.

 

Soon though, the fight between within the Avengers had blown up majorly, and suddenly he was faced with the idea of having to fight his best friend and half of his original team. It was a painful thought, and he knew he’d need all the help he could get, and that’s why he started looking into the quick and agile superhero of Queens, New York. Guy went by the name of Spider-Man, and his suit was hideous to say the least. It’d be torn to shreds in seconds in a fight against Cap, so while he worked on creating some form of a decent suit that would compliment the hero, FRIDAY was busy figuring out the identity of the kid.

One afternoon when he was putting a few finishing touches on the suit, FRIDAY had alerted him of the identity of the masked hero. “The crimefighter in Queens known has Spider-Man I have successfully identified as one Peter Benjamin Parker.”

Tony had dropped everything in his hands. He hadn’t heard that name in a long time. A quick glance at the name of his wrist confirmed his thought, and he straightened up. “What can you tell me about him?”

Up popped an image of a doe-eyed youth with a mass of messy curls and the fairest skin that Tony has ever seen. He sucked in a breath and ignored the slight pang in his chest at the sight of the clearly young boy. “Mr. Parker is currently fourteen years old, and he lives with his Aunt. His parents died in a car accident when he was young, and his Uncle died three years ago due to a mugging according to police records. He is currently studying at Midtown School of Science and Technology, and he is a resident of Queens, New York.”

Tony nodded slightly, unconsciously doing the math in his head and coming to the conclusion that it has in fact been fourteen years since his soulmate’s name appeared on his skin. He shook the idea away and hummed to himself. “FRIDAY, get me his address by the time I finish this suit. We’re going to visit, Mr. Parker.”

 

After meeting the kid and battling against Cap, Tony was having a hard time fighting his loneliness. The kid really was brilliant, and after seeing him fighting in real life, he was amazed that he was only fifteen (his birthday had passed in a blur, but Tony at least remembered to have someone send the kid something). The idea caused another painful twist to his stomach, but he shook it off. Just because the kid happened to have the same name didn’t mean he was automatically Tony’s soulmate.

Either way, he ended up leaving Happy in charge of the kid, but that turned out to be a bust when he had gotten himself into trouble not once but twice, and he almost died after each time. It was the second time that Tony took the suit back, and it was the second time that his heart broke while looking into those scared and broken brown eyes.

He had just wanted to keep the kid safe…

Of course things didn’t go as planned because Peter had to prove him wrong, and he went charging into open battle in nothing but a sweatshirt with holes for eyes. After that, Tony was quick to give him back his suit because at least the kid had some basic protection. And once the dust had settled, he had invited Peter to become an Avenger. Surprisingly, his offer was turned down, and he was left with his heart broken again. He didn’t understand why there was a pain in his heart as he watched Peter walk away, but he swallowed it down and shook it off as he told himself he was going to get the kid a real internship to work for him.

 

That was how they ended up as they are now, sitting in Tony’s personal lab with various broken and failed machinery around them. Tony was exceptionally annoyed. He’d been working on this project for weeks, and nothing was working at all. He was getting close to ripping his hair out.

He had called Peter in to get another set of eyes on the matter, and it appeared that even he was having trouble with it. “Hmm…. Maybe if we try using a different combination of metals, the invisibility layer will actually stick.”

“We’ve tried ten different combinations, kid,” he growled, his annoyance only mounting as this project continued to loom over him.

“I know, Mr. Stark, but maybe if we make smaller batches of a few different samples, we can find the one that works.”

“I’m beginning to think nothing will work,” he huffed before tossing the piece of thigh armor he was currently working with onto the table. He missed how the boy flinched at the loud sound. “I need a fucking drink.”

With that in mind, Tony turned and walked towards the exit of the lab, and silently Peter stood and followed him. Peter had learned pretty quick to not wait and be asked to follow after Tony had accidentally abandoned him in the lab for near three hours while he decided to have a drink and relax.

They went upstairs, and Peter was allowed to sit on the counter as Tony poured himself a drink. He tossed a soda at the kid when he had rummaged through the fridge, but whatever he was looking for, he didn’t find as he slammed the door closed.

For the second time today, Peter flinched at the anger of the other man, and he slid down off the counter before embracing the other from behind. He felt Tony stiffen up, but he didn’t push him away, and Peter allowed himself the happiness of hugging his mentor and the man he was pretty sure he was falling in love with. He knew that Tony wasn’t all that big on physical contact of the not intercourse kind, but Peter himself had always found comfort in another person’s hug, so maybe this time he’d be able to do it right for Mr. Stark too.

After a moment though, Tony was unwinding his apprentice’s arms and stepping out of the hug before turning to look down at him. “What was that for?” he asked blandly, downing the rest of his whiskey and looking for the bottle to pour another.

“I… I thought it might help…” Peter mumbled, and now that he said it outloud, he realized how stupid that really was. His cheeks were burning, and he hung his head to look at his toes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, kid. Whatever,” Tony responded as he poured another large glass of whiskey.

Peter chanced a glance at the elder, but his eyes were drawn to the faint black marks on Tony’s left wrist. “What’s that?” he asked, reaching out and gently poking the mark that he’d never seen before.

Tony pulled his hand away and pocketed it before shrugging. “Soulmate mark. Nothing to worry about, kid,” he said as casual as he could, another large swig of whiskey going down his throat afterwards.

Peter nodded slightly, reaching for the soda that had time to settle on the counter. Mr. Stark never talked about his soulmate. Peter almost thought he didn’t have one, but he found that to be unlikely. Someone like Tony Stark had to have a soulmate. “You never mentioned you had one before,” he said softly, more to himself as he cracked open the can.

“Never met him. Figured I wouldn’t. Haven’t told anyone really, not important,” Tony shrugged, and a bitterness laced his words that Peter had never heard. “Say, today’s your birthday, ain’t it? You gotten yours yet?” he asked, quickly trying to push the conversation off himself.

Peter shrugged. “I didn’t this morning, but Aunt May said I was born in the afternoon, said to check then.”

“Well it’s afternoon, kid. Could check now,” he said as he downed another glass and went to pour himself a third. Peter frowned as he watched the other drown himself in whiskey, and he sighed gently before taking another sip of his soda.

“I could.” Peter was a tad deflated as Tony simply nodded while pouring himself a glass. He knew the man didn’t care for his own soulmate, but it’d be nice if he showed at least some curiosity in Peter’s. With another small sigh and a shake of the head, the teenager decided to check himself anyways. At least his arms.

Nothing was on the right side, but as he went to roll up the sleeve of his left arm, he gasped loudly and dropped the soda he was clutching in his hand. “Christ, kid!” Tony barked as he jumped in shock of suddenly having a fizzy liquid slipping between his sock-clade toes. “What the fuck was that for?” he growled and turned to face the other only to see those big doe-eyes filling with tears.

“It’s nothing! I’m sorry!” Peter sniffled as he quickly pulled his sleeve down and looked for a towel. “I’ll clean it up.”

“No, let me see.” Of course the genius had noticed how the kid seemed to hide his left wrist, and the churning in his stomach was back. He wanted to blame it on the alcohol, but there was a sudden tightness in his chest.

“Ah, there’s nothing there.” Peter said hurriedly as he grabbed a dish towel.

“If there was nothing, you wouldn’t have dropped your drink,” Tony pointed out as Peter crouched down and began to clean up the spilt drink. The kid ignored him, so Tony Stark being the asshole he’s always been crouched down in front of Peter and grabbed his left hand before ripping the sleeve back. Peter didn’t even have time to process what happened before Tony had already read the name that was tattooed on the youth’s pale skin in the most familiar handwriting he’d ever seen.

“Anthony Edward Stark,” he whispered, his thumb gently brushing over the words.

Peter quickly pulled his hand away, blushing to the roots of his hair as he stumbled on his words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll leave. I’m sorry.” He kept babbling as tears began to leak from his eyes and run down his cheeks, and Tony frowned before pulling up his own sleeve to reveal his left wrist.

“Don’t be sorry, Peter,” he whispered, reaching his right hand out to wipe away the fat tears ruining the youthful face. A loud and ugly sob stumbled from Peter’s throat as he tried to hide from the other, but Tony was quick to pull him close, resting his forehead on those soft curls. “Look at my wrist, Peter.”

A mass of nervous butterflies filled his stomach, and when Peter cracked his eyes open at first all he saw was Tony’s broad chest. He swallowed nervously as he looked lower before his lips parted in a silent gasp. There on Tony’s wrist in the exact same place as his own was “Peter Benjamin Parker”.

“W-What?” he stuttered before pulling back to look up at the older man who had probably one of the most nerve-ridden smiles Peter has ever seen.

“Got it when I was thirty in the afternoon on a day in April. Didn’t know about you back then, and when I met you, I kind of hoped it wasn’t you at first because of the whole age thing. I was suppose to be your mentor, figured it’d be fucked up if I mentioned that you had the same name as my soulmate.”

Peter’s cheeks were a vibrant shade of red, and Tony chuckled at the shyness before leaning in and gently nuzzling the hot flesh. A smile crept up on Peter’s face at the slight tickle of stubble bumping against his jaw. “But… what does this mean for us?” he whispered, fingers curling into the worn long sleeve of the man who was clearly his soulmate.

“What do you want it to mean?”

“I want to try,” Peter said almost instantly, growing a tad more timid again after his quick reaction. With a smirk, Tony nodded before gently pressing his lips to the still red skin of Peter’s cheek.

“How about we go on a date and celebrate your birthday then?” The younger male swore this must be a dream, but he quickly agreed before leaning in and pressing a feather-light kiss to the corner of the other’s lips.

“Please.”


End file.
